BPSC prelims paper leak case: BDO, college principal among four arrested

Four persons, including a BDO, were arrested Tuesday in connection with the “leak” of question paper of the preliminary examination for Bihar’s civil services, conducted by BPSC for key posts in the state administration, according to a top official of Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EoU), which is probing the matter.

Four persons, including a block development officer (BDO), were arrested Tuesday in connection with the “leak” of question paper of the preliminary examination for Bihar’s civil services, conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) for key posts in the state administration, according to a top official of Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EoU), which is probing the matter.

Aspirants before appearing in the BPSC exam in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar.HT Photo)

Those arrested are: Jai Vardhan Gupta, BDO of Barhara in Bhojpur district who was deputed as magistrate to oversee the examination in the district’s Veer Kunwar Singh College Ara (VKSC), Dr Yogendra Singh, principal and centre superintendent of VKSC, Sushil Kumar Singh, lecturer and controller, and Agam Kumar Sahay, lecturer and assistant centre superintendent at the VKSC.

The preliminary examination was held on Sunday and cancelled the same day after the question paper began circulating on the social media.

The special investigation team (SIT) set up by the EoU to investigate the matter first detained the BDO from his residence and brought him to Patna for further investigation.

“We have arrested four people, including Barhara BDO, in the case,” said additional director general (ADG) of police Nayyar Hasnain Khan, who heads the EOU. Khan said more arrests were likely.

During the day, the 14-member SIT led by superintendent of police (cyber cell) Sushil Kumar questioned at least eight people, including a youth who was the first to have received the question paper on his phone.

More than six lakh candidates had enrolled for Sunday’s examination, conducted for recruitment to 802 posts in Bihar’s civil services. The exam was earlier deferred twice due to Covid -19.

The initial probe indicates that all the versions of the leaked examination paper circulating on social media appeared to have originated from a single point, EOU officials said.

The SIT, which visited Ara’s VKSC, also came across complaints from candidates that a select group of students were seated in a separate room and given the question papers 15 minutes before the examination started at 12 noon.

The VKSC is linked to a contractor named Surendra Singh, who, according to EOU sources, was an accused in the fake stamp paper case. Singh’s wife Asha Singh is a former JD(U) MLA from Barhara constituency.

Surendra Singh told HT over phone that the VKSC was established in 1978 and his family members had donated five acres of land in the name of Bihar Governor in 1987 to construct the college. The college’s affiliation was cancelled by the Veer Kunwar Singh University in 2017, though Singh did not share details why.

He also dismissed the allegation that question paper was leaked from the VKSC premises.

However, he admitted that more than 900 aspirants appeared in the BPSC prelims exam at the college and had created ruckus following delay in distribution of OMR sheets and question paper.